Big Baby and company advance to Final Four

ATLANTA - Brace yourself, Indianapolis: The Cajuns are coming, led by a 310-pound ballerina and the freakiest basketball player few have ever heard of.

And FYI, they are determined to win a national championship.

"I'm not satisfied," Louisiana State's Glen "Big Baby" Davis yelled to the Georgia Dome as he celebrated the Tigers' 70-60 overtime victory over Texas on Saturday. "I'm not satisfied yet."

Davis is the Tigers' super-sized yet graceful leader, all 6-foot-9 and 310 pounds of him.

Frontcourt mate Tyrus Thomas is the athlete with the athletic skills that could qualify him as one of the X-Men.

Together they carried LSU (27-8) to the NCAA tournament regional semifinal win and into the Final Four for the first time in 20 years. The duo combined for 45 points, 22 rebounds, four blocks and hit clutch shot after clutch shot.

"You can coach a long time and never have a group of people like I have," LSU coach John Brady said. "And hopefully we can play two more games."

His two post players will make the Tigers an underground favorite next week in Indianapolis, the site of the Final Four.

Thomas earned the regional's most outstanding player award, but it could have gone either way. The redshirt freshman - little known to those outside the Southeastern Conference who don't work as NBA scouts - finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while battling dehydration and cramps.

He also skunked Texas star LaMarcus Aldridge. Two nights after scoring 26 points against West Virginia, Aldridge scored four points on 2-for-14 shooting. Thomas hounded him all night, limiting Aldridge to three offensive rebounds and forcing him to shoot midrange jumpers.

"Coach showed us a video of Buster Douglas and Mike Tyson the other day," said Thomas in reference to Douglas' knockout of the champ, arguably the greatest boxing upset in history, "and Texas gave us some hard punches. We had to be Buster Douglas and swing back. We knocked out Mike Tyson."

Davis simply dazzled with his uncanny scoring ability. The Southeastern Conference Player of the Year scored a game-high 26 points.

His biggest shots came in the clutch: he hit a clutch fallaway in the final minute of regulation and a 3-pointer from the top of the key that essentially clinched the victory two minutes into overtime.

"Glen Davis knocked down some big time shots over two or three people, and Thomas dominated early on," Texas swingman P.J. Tucker said. "They're good players. Once they got comfortable, they started to play well."

Davis and Thomas have been playing well together for more than a decade. They grew up in the same Baton Rouge, La., neighborhood and played on the same summer-league team.

The two embraced on the court for several minutes following the final horn, savoring the victory.

"We call each other brothers from another mother," Davis said. "When one fights the other fights. That's what brothers do. You go get the big brother. We just have a chemistry together that most people can't establish."

Chemistry is what ultimately propelled LSU through to the Final Four. As dominant as Thomas and Davis were inside, guard Darrel Mitchell controlled the tempo and swingmen Garrett Temple - who held Duke's J.J. Redick to 11 points on 3-for-18 shooting in the regional semifinal - and Tasmin Mitchell took away Texas' P.J. Tucker.

Tucker, the Big 12 Player of the Year, was almost as big a non-factor as Aldridge. He scored 10 points, but half of those came late, in the final two minutes of regulation and in the overtime. He never found a flow and became more of a role player, grabbing 13 rebounds and passing out six assists.

LSU's victory spoiled Texas' hopes for what its fans called "The Trifecta." The Longhorns boast the reigning national champions in baseball and football. Had the basketball team advanced to the Final Four, the school would have had a chance at becoming the first to have reigning title holders in the three major men's sports.

Texas ends its season with a 30-7 record instead, and LSU gets a chance at a national title. And while the Tigers' victory celebration Saturday was raucous, complete with Bourbon Street-like dancing by players and fans, they seemed subdued moments later.

Brady explained why.

"For some reason, this doesn't seem like the end to me," the coach said. "There's some more work to do. Maybe there's something more in store for this year."